


What Use Is One Wing, Anyway?

by insanityinside



Category: Dororo (Manga)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Canon Trans Character, Gen, What-If, Wings?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23087347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insanityinside/pseuds/insanityinside
Summary: Hyakkimaru grows a new bodypart, but something isn't right.
Relationships: Dororo & Hyakkimaru (Dororo)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	What Use Is One Wing, Anyway?

**Author's Note:**

> This idea wouldn't leave me alone, so I've decided to write it.  
> Also, the title is a line I kinda wanted to use, but couldn't actually fit it into the fic.
> 
> Edit: added a little thing that was meant to be there from the begining, but I had some trouble writing it at first.

‘Is it dead?’ Dororo poked the fallen monster with a stick. As demons went, it hadn’t been a particularly strong one. With the help of a few friendly locals they had managed to lure it into a trap, after which, Hyakkimaru had cut it up with relative ease.

‘I think so...’ the older boy replied. Then he hissed in pain.

Dororo looked up to see him wincing at sensations that he could only imagine. Apparently, growing a whole new bodypart could be painful.

‘Yep. It’s dead all right,’ Hyakkimaru confirmed, as he tried to touch a spot on his own back, where something seemed to be changing.

And now Dororo could see that there was definitely something going on there. Hyakkimaru’s clothes bulged as something underneath them moved, grew, tried to break free. Within seconds, it looked ready to burst through the fabric. Hyakkimaru shrugged his kimono off his left shoulder, his still unsheathed sword tearing some new holes into it in the process, and the new appendage came into view. It flexed, straightened out, extended high up above his head and began to grow... feathers? Why were there feathers? Why was there a _wing_? Dororo was used to seeing strange things by now, but this was a whole new level of strange.

It was only when he heard the murmur of the small crowd behind him that he remembered that the group of villagers was still there, watching. Staring. Someone gasped. Someone shouted ‘He’s not human!’ The usual, really. Dororo know how this went. He turned around and positioned himself between Hyakkimaru and a large angry-looking man, who had somehow acquired a pitchfork and was brandishing it in a menacing way.

‘Bro’s done nothing wrong!’ he shouted ‘He’s human, just like you!’

‘A bloody freak is what he is,’ the man replied ‘I’ve never seen a human grow a damn wing on his back!’ To be fair, Dororo hadn’t, either, but then again he was young and willing to accept that the world was full of things he had never seen before.

‘He’s just saved you, you idiots! He’s a good guy!’

The man planted his pitchfork on the ground like a staff.

‘We’ve only got your word for it, kid,’ he said ‘For all we know, you could turn into a freak yourself, when you’re older.’

Any moment now, Dororo was sure of it. Any moment now, Hyakkimaru would tell him to drop it. Then he would get up and leave, pretending that it doesn’t bother him at all.

But this did not happen. He looked around to see his friend sitting on the ground, with his face hidden in his hand. His other, artificial hand still wasn’t attatched. His new wing was folded tightly against his back, trying and failing not to draw attention to itself.

‘This isn’t right...’ he muttered to noone in particular. No help here.

Dororo took a deep breath. He looked up at the angry man and the frightened villagers behind him.

‘Calm down, ’ he said ‘We were just about to leave anyway. Don’t mind us...’

When he handed Hyakkimaru his discarded prosthetic, the older boy put it on mechanically, as though he was all machine. He looked up.

‘Time to leave, huh?’ he said.

‘’Fraid so, Bro.’

He stood up slowly and headed down the path, away from the village, without a word. He sped up gradually, seemingly unconsciously, until Dororo had to run to keep up.

‘Hey!’ the little boy shouted ‘Wait for me!’

Hyakkimaru slowed down a little.

‘You’re still following me?’ He barely turned to look at him as he said this.

‘’Course I am.’

‘You really should stop.’

‘I don’t give up. You should know this by now,’ Dororo said brightly.

‘That sword’s not coming off anytime soon. Hell, at this point, how can you be so sure it’s ever going to happen?’

Dororo stopped walking.

‘B...because... ’ he stuttered ‘Why wouldn’t it? Because you’re not gonna give up either, are you?’

‘That’s none of your business.’

But it wasn’t about the sword! It hadn’t been for months and they both knew it.

‘Jeez!’ Dororo shouted ‘Enough with your stupid lone wolf act! How dumb do you think I am?! I can tell you need to talk about it!’

Hyakkimaru sighed. His head sank low between his shoulders, the feathers on his wing ruffled.

‘Those people were jerks,’ Dororo kept on talking ‘but so what? It happens. You’ve never taken it so badly before.’

‘I’ve never thought they might have a point before.’

‘That’s just a load of crap! You saved them! They should be grateful! They’re clearly wrong, so why care about what they think?’

At last Hyakkimaru turned to face Dororo.

‘Look at this.’ The wing spread out on the left side of his body. It was even larger than Dororo had thought, about as long as its owner was tall.

‘It’s... impressive,’ the child said with a little nervous laugh ‘When you’ve got the other one, you’ll surely be able to fly like a bird!’

‘That’s not the point!’ Hyakkimaru snapped, folding the wing so quickly that the sudden blast of air nearly knocked Dororo over.

‘Well then... what is?’

Hyakkimaru took a deep breath.

‘For about a year now,’ he said ‘I’ve known what I had to do to become a normal human being. I knew it wasn’t gonna be easy. I knew it was dangerous. It could take months, years or even decades, but I knew it was worth it. And now it turns out I was wrong.’ His voice grew louder as he spoke ‘I don’t even know what I’m becoming anymore! I’m never going to be a normal person. I was never _meant_ to be one, even before the demons got involved.’

He turned his face away from Dororo, trying to stop himself from breaking into tears.

‘Well... When you put it like that... I can see why you’d feel like this. But I don’t care about that. It doesn’t matter if you look like a human or a machine, or a bird. You’re still the same guy! You’re still my bro!’

‘I’m glad at least you think so.’

He started walking again. Dororo followed.

* * *

‘Wanna hear a secret?’ Dororo asked after walking in silence for a while. He’d thought a lot about this. He didn’t really like to talk about it. In his opinion, the fewer people knew, the better. But right now it might help if they could both understand each other’s predicament a little better.

‘A secret? What kind of secret?’ There wasn’t much enthusiasm in the older boy’s voice, but he did ask. Dororo supposed it was a good sign.

‘I... um...’ He hesitated again.

‘Why ask, if you’re not going to tell me?’ Still grumpy, huh?

‘Well, the thing is... I...’ Dororo felt the heat of a blush spread across his face and was almost grateful to Hyakkimaru for not actually looking his way. ‘I’m... um... not like most boys... ’

For the first time this afternoon, Hyakkimaru laughed. Under any other circumstances Dororo would have been angry, but right now, it was a relief to hear a laugh, even if it was at his expense.

‘ _That’s_ the secret?!’

‘Um... Yeah... I...’

‘I figured it out _ages_ ago.’

‘You _knew?!_ You never said anything!’

He shrugged and his wing followed the motion of his shoulder. He laughed again, but there was a darker edge to his laugh.

‘Who am I to tell people what they should be based on their anatomy?’ He sighed heavily again. ‘And I’m even less qualified to do that now.’

‘Well... My point is,’ Dororo said ‘I don’t know exactly what you’re going through, but... I know it sucks when people tell you you’re someone you’re not.’

‘Look on the bright side. At least it’s not likely to get you ran out of town by an angry mob.’

Dororo didn’t say, _At least as long as people don’t know._ This was not a competition, or, if it was, it wasn’t one he wanted to win.

For another minute or two they walked in slightly embarrassed silence, before Dororo plucked up the courage to reveal another secret.

'Um...' he said 'There's one more thing...'

'Hm?'

'Well... It's embarrassing to think about, now that I'm older and know how these things work... ' Under these circumstances he was willing to forgive the little snort of laughter. 'But when I was little... Well... I used to think that some day, I'd just grow up to be a man like any other.'

Hyakkimaru didn't say anything.

'I mean... ' Dororo stuttered 'I know it's not exactly the same, but... '

'Yeah. I think I get it...'

* * *

They set up camp in the woods that night. There was a town nearby, but Hyakkimaru was not ready to deal with people again. He might be, eventually, he said, but not yet. Instead, they stopped early enough that he could mend his clothes by daylight, and cut a hole in the back for the new appendage. He didn’t bother to ask where Dororo had got the needle and thread, apparently conceding that perhaps people who threw rocks at him deserved to have their sewing supplies stolen.

Dororo approached him as he worked.

‘So... What’s it feel like?’ he asked.

‘Huh?’ Hyakkimaru looked up.

‘Growing a wing. Does it hurt?’

‘A little. Not much more than an arm, really.’

It wasn’t a good moment to remind him that most people didn’t have a frame of reference for that either.

* * *

The silence around the campfire was getting uncomfortable.

‘It’s still bugging you huh?’

‘Well, it’s still _there_ , isn’t it?’

For a moment the only sound was the crackling of the small fire. Then, he spoke up again.

‘I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but I don’t want it.’

‘There’s not much we can do about it, though, is there?’

‘I’m not sure.’ Hyakkimaru spoke slowly, uncertainly, as though the words in his mouth tasted funny. ‘Maybe if we could find a surgeon...’

‘What are you saying?!’ Dororo nearly jumped. But once he got past the initial shock, he had to admit that would solve the problem, at least until any other unexpected parts turn up. If that was what made his friend happy, he couldn’t really come up with any reasonable objection.

‘Ah, but first we’d have to find someone who wouldn’t freak out,’ the older boy said bitterly.

‘Um... ’ the child said timidly ‘Isn’t your dad a doctor? Maybe we could pay him a visit?’

The shocked flutter of the wing nearly blew out the flame.

‘I... I can’t just... go home like this!’

Dororo could hardly remember having a home himself, but he understood that to some people the place they grew up was a big deal. Still...

‘Surely if there’s one person,’ he said ‘besides me, I mean,’ he added quickly ‘who’s sure to accept you no matter what you look like...’

‘Well, yeah, but...’ Hyakkimaru hid his face in his hand again, although he peeked at the fire through the gaps between his fingers. ‘I’ve always had this idea of how I’d come back home one day and... it wasn’t like this. Not incomplete and confused, and only there to ask for help... And besides, there’s other people there who have known me all my life.’

‘Ah. You’re worried they’ll think you’re weird?’

For a moment, Hyakkimaru contemplated this, gazing into the fire.

‘Actually,’ he said at last ‘most of them always thought I was weird. I mean, nobody knew where I’d come from, I kept seeing stuff they couldn’t, and there was that time my arm came off while I was carrying stuff home from the market. So embarrassing...’

‘They didn’t hate you, though?’

‘Nah,’ he faced the child again, almost smiling ‘They were used to the weirdness.’

For a moment the two of them sat together in silence, watching the fire.

‘Maybe it’s not such a bad idea,’ Hyakkimaru said thoughtfully.

‘What, getting rid of the...?’

‘I’m still not sure about that one. But going home for a while might do me some good. I think I’ll decide while I’m there.’

‘I’m coming with you, of course,’ said Dororo ‘And, if you wanna know, I think the wing’s pretty cool.’

‘You do?’

‘Yeah. I mean, I guess it’s not much use on its own, but the other one’s bound to turn up eventually.’

* * *

Hyakkimaru had trouble falling asleep that night. Lying on his back was no longer comfortable, with the single wing folded underneath him. Sleeping in a bed might have been less unpleasant, but he was not ready to walk into another town like that. He kept turning over from one side to the other late into the night. Shortly after he finally started drifting off, a strange sensation pulled him right back into wakefulness. Something was tugging at his back. At his _wing_ , he remembered. On top of everything else, the damn thing was uncomfortable.

He sat up and turned around, yanking the wing away from whatever had grabbed it. There was the sudden sharp pain of a few feathers being ripped out and he knew he wasn’t getting back to sleep anytime soon. Next to him, Dororo looked up, confused, still clutching a fluffy white feather in his hand.

‘What am I, a blanket?’ Hyakkimaru demanded.

Dororo yawned and rubbed his eyes.

‘It just unfolded over me in your sleep,’ he said ‘I think you’re subconsciously trying to protect me.’ He laughed. ‘Well, I’m not gonna complain about some warm fluffy feathers on a cold night.’

Hyakkimaru sighed, turning away, so the kid wouldn’t see his smile.

‘Well, alright,’ he said ‘Just don’t pull at it too hard. You have _no_ idea how weird it feels.’

He lay down again, on his side, with his wing draped over the kid.

‘Sorry, Bro,’ Dororo muttered into the feathers.

‘It’s okay.’

For a moment they lay there in silence. Then...

‘Hey, Bro... Can you promise me something?’

‘Hm?’

Was he gonna say something about not letting himself believe that he’s becoming a monster?

‘You gotta take me flying, once you’ve got the other one,’ Dororo said after a brief moment of silence. And, honestly, this was a lot better.

‘We’ll see, I guess.’


End file.
